Light Art
In the series of line drawings Michael Ahlefeldt explores the power of intuition and the subconscious. At first glance the compositions seem abstract though gradually they reveal dynamic scenes filled with joy enthusiasm and energy where multiple figures evolve inviting the viewer to join them. His curiosity for new techniques and his fascination with form and colour encourage him to bring his drawings to life and make them as vibrant as the scenes they depict. Their transformation into light “tableaux” featuring intense colours allows us to step into the world of the artist and to actively participate in this dance.
Drawings
The medium of drawing fulfils the role of “laboratory and development department” for Michael Ahlefeldt, in that this is where we first encounter his gallery of figures: the pensive man, the choleric individual, the woman and the self-portraits in various stages. Ahlefeldt uses the medium of drawing in a way reminiscent of the classical master caricaturists. Despite their sketchy lines, his figures take shape as distinct characters, assuming characters that engag each other in quiet communication. Simultaneously refined and coarse, they maintain their own tiny lives in black and white. And occasionally, the artist invites them to join the colourful festivities on a grander scale on canvas.
By Mads Damsbo, Director at Kunsthal Spritten / Spritten Center for Contemporary Art
Digital Drawings
If the medium of drawing serves as Michael Ahlefeldt’s “development department”, drawing on an iPad is his “test centre”. It is here that the various figures and compositions are taken though the boundless possibilities of technology, emerging as twisted, blurred and uninterrupted contours. The artist’s iPad drawings bear a certain resemblance to the Japanese bullet trains: the resistance of the paper melts away, and we are left facing the weightless shadow of the artist’s imagination in its purest form.
By Mads Damsbo, Director at Kunsthal Spritten / Spritten Center for Contemporary Art
Acrylic on canvas
Painting in acrylic and oil is almost an Olympic discipline. In all their confident colourful splendour, the resultant works are there on the wall, crying out to us. Since the dawn of time, oils and acrylics have been viewed as the most refined and complete works of art, the final results of countless sketches and studies. However, Michael Ahlefeldt is not an artist who strives for a finite and finished expression. Rather, the intense sense of presence in the artist’s paintings stems from his insistence on infinity and on limitless possibilities: an artistic space where anything can happen.
By Mads Damsbo, Director at Kunsthal Spritten / Spritten Center for Contemporary Art
Pastel on paper
In the series of line drawings Michael Ahlefeldt explores the power of intuition and the subconscious. At first glance the compositions seem abstract though gradually they reveal dynamic scenes filled with joy enthusiasm and energy where multiple figures evolve inviting the viewer to join them. His curiosity for new techniques and his fascination with form and colour encourage him to bring his drawings to life and make them as vibrant as the scenes they depict. Their transformation into light “tableaux” featuring intense colours allows us to step into the world of the artist and to actively participate in this dance.